Steve Jobs has never had much in the way of kind words for netbooks. During the launch of the iPad, the Apple CEO quipped that "netbooks aren't better at anything" -- thus making them a useless category between smartphones and notebooks. Not surprisingly, it's the netbook category of products that some observers saw being most at risk from the iPad.

Now a Morgan Stanley analyst has pointed out how the launch of Apple's closely watched, long-rumored iPad has indeed stifled the netbook market -- and has been doing so even before it's official launch. HardwareCentral takes a look.

A financial analyst has floated the theory that Apple's iPad pretty much decimated netbook sales just by showing up, but the findings are being met with skepticism by the company providing the supporting data.

An interesting side bit of speculation about the iPad was included in a research note Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty sent to subscribers on Thursday. The note, which was focused on HP's acquisition of Palm, also discussed the netbook market. Huberty said netbook sales plunged in January, when Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced the iPad, and flatlined in April, after the iPad's release.